


Pale Lips

by karovie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Near Death, hurt keith, proposal, worried lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 23:38:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16775233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karovie/pseuds/karovie
Summary: Keith’s quiet voice barely reached his ears as he watched those pale lips form the words. It only made Lance panic more. Was he saying goodbye? No. no he couldn't. Not him. No. absolutely not.





	Pale Lips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WinterAndLittleBrunettes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterAndLittleBrunettes/gifts).



> I have been struggling with writer's block for a long time now and needed some help getting out of it. my dear friend WinterAndLittleBrunettes gave me a suggestion about writing a drabble where keith got hurt while protecting lance, and lance proposing in desperation as he thought Keith was dying.   
> I managed to write this and I'm so happy I managed to do something finally. I still struggle, but at least I have written something you know?  
> so yes. here you go! Hope you enjoy!

What a chaos it was, trying to escape the Galra ship after being detected by a drone. The mission had gone so well. They had almost made it. The freaking drone came out of nowhere. Lance was pretty sure it had been camouflaged even. It was just… suddenly there, blocking their route. Fast was it too. It had sent out a warning signal the moment before Lance had shot it down. Moments later, lazer beams were whizzing past their heads as Galra and sentries alike came rushing out of the walls. Clearly they had made secret passageways the Voltron crew didn’t know about. 

First, they had tried to make their escape down a hallway away from their planned route as it had been blocked. They hoped to find a different path but as they turned a corner, they found it to be a dead end. They doubled back with Lance in front, firing his bayard at the enemy, trying to force a path for them. 

In the chaos, the Galra had managed to separate them, leaving their backs open. Keith worked faster than Lance was able to keep track of while firing his own bayard. Galra after Galra fell at his sword. Lance had to concentrate on his own targets, looking away from Keith, praying he could hold his own against the vast number of Galra. 

Lance managed to make a big open circle around himself as he shot down the enemy. He turned as fast as he could, hitting the targets in fatal areas on the first shot. Even then he sometimes had to shoot the same target several times to take it down. In his peripheral vision he saw Keith closing in on him fast and as he turned he almost lost his bayard to the agile Galra who popped up in his vision. 

For a moment he thought he was done for, but then Keith reached him and grabbed the Galra with one hand while thrusting his blade into the enemy’s chest as he spun them both out of Lance’s way. 

The ranks were thinning out but they weren’t out of the woods yet. They both knew there would be reinforcement arriving soon. They really needed to get out of there. 

Lance resumed firing down the sentries closing in on them, but when he couldn’t hear the reassuring clanging of the sword behind him, he shot a look over his shoulder. He sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of Keith clutching his stomach, leaning against the wall. 

He spun back around to face the sentries, desperate for a fast solution to their problem. Looking up, he saw giant pipes running down the ceilings of the hallways and in his desperation he fired at them in an attempt to have them fall and at the very least partially block the path for the sentries. 

He didn’t think they would actually be filled with toxic waste.

He’d gotten in a couple shots when one of the pipes exploded, tearing holes in the others, sending splinters and sheets of metal raining down over the sentries. Moments later a glowing pink liquid poured out of the giant holes, sizzling and hissing as it turned acidic upon contact with the air. 

Seeing the material on one of the sentries’ heads dissolve from contact with the pink goo like liquid had Lance running to Keith’s side immediately. They needed to get out of there. They needed to find a safe spot to hide while waiting for their friends to get them out. 

“Sorry love,” Lance breathed out as he pulled Keith along with him despite his injuries. Keith said nothing, only doing his best to follow as fast as he could. 

Lance’s heart raced in his chest as he tried to focus on finding somewhere for them to hide rather than the increasing weight pulling down on his side. 

He had taken a different turn than the one they had gone down earlier and found himself going through a door leading to some kind of spare parts room. Or that’s at least what it looked like with all the object cluttered around in there. 

Lance made Keith lean against the wall while he set about piling junk in front of the door in an attempt to make it more difficult for the enemy to get to them. It did mean it would be practically impossible for them to leave the room unless one of the lions tore a hole in the other side of the room which, honestly, was something Lance hoped for. 

Finally remembering the comms, he turned them on and yelled at them to get them out immediately. He panted loudly as he placed metal part after metal part in front of the door, firing at them to try meld them to the walls. It didn’t work very well and in the end. He had to give up on it and tried placing the objects in a way that made it possible for them to at least hide from immediate sight from the doorway.

There was chaos over the comms as Lance tried to explain what was going on. He was interrupted when he heard the spine chilling sound of a body hitting the floor. He spun around to see Keith collapsed on the ground, his helmet having fallen off, wobbling slightly in place a little ways away from him. His arm was underneath him, undoubtedly still cradling his wounded stomach even as his energy had left him. 

There was a flurry of worried voices over the comms as Lance yelled out Keith’s name and sprinted to his side.

He hesitated a moment before he turned Keith around. The other groaned with pain and squinted up at Lance once he was on his back. 

Lance brushed Keith’s long hair out of his face with a careful hand. He looked into the pained, purple eyes before his gaze moved to Keith’s stomach. He had been so focused on keeping them hidden he had forgotten to check how bad Keith was faring. He had not forgotten his boyfriend was injured. Far from it. It had almost overwhelmed him enough to freeze in his tracks several times. But everything always turned out fine right? 

The sight of Keith’s stomach said otherwise. 

There was so much blood. How much blood could a human lose before they were beyond saving? How much blood was he even seeing? It looked like it was more than a human could take to lose. Or was he just overreacting? No. no he wasn’t. This was real. Keith’s injury was real. He had no idea how long he had. 

Was Keith going to die? 

No! He couldn’t leave him! No no no no. Not him. Not now. Not ever. No. Oh please. No. 

He could feel the tears press past his eyelids, his throat closing up with that terribly painful lump. He put Keith’s hands properly over his wound and pressed down on them with his own, trying his damndest to stop the flow of blood.

He looked at Keith’s face, seeing his gaze focused on Lance’s face. There was a small smile on his lips and his gaze was so incredibly full of love. An emotion Lance never would have thought would be aimed at him just over a year ago. A sob forced its way out of Lance’s throat as his thoughts ran a mile a minute in his head, showing him all kinds of scenarios without Keith by his side. It was too painful. He couldn’t take it. No. Keith couldn’t die. He was always fine! Always… He… he always made it out alive… this time wouldn’t be any different… right…? 

“I love you,” 

Keith’s quiet voice barely reached his ears as he watched those pale lips form the words. It only made Lance panic more. Was he saying goodbye? No. no he couldn't. Not him. No. absolutely not. 

“Stay with me Keith! Don’t you dare!” Lance heard himself call out. There was a loud buzzing in his ears. The only thing he was able to focus on was Keith’s face. He didn’t even know if they were still alone or if the Galra had found them already. Everything around him was a blur. His heart refused to calm down, his breathing was painful, his chest was tight, his head was filled to the bursting point not letting him think clearly. Not letting him remember what to do in situations like these. 

The only thing he could remember was the makeshift ring he had made with giddy hands as he imagined the perfect date. 

Violet vanished from his gaze, making Lance’s blood run cold in his veins. 

“Keith!” Lance called out, still pressing down on Keith’s wound. There was no reaction. 

Lifting one hand, he patted Keith’s cheek as tears blurred his vision. 

“Keith! Please, don’t leave me!” Lance’s voice cracked. “You can’t just leave me like this. I was going to… I wanted to…” he choked on a sob. 

The strength seeped out of his muscles. He leaned his forehead against Keith’s, his tears falling to Keith’s face. 

“Keith…” he whispered. “Marry me?” he breathed as he imagined how he had wanted to bring him out on the perfect date. How he had wanted to propose at the end of it. Seeing the adorable confusion on Keith’s face before he understood what was going on. Seeing the surprise and the joy… hopefully. How they would kiss and laugh…. 

Lance kissed Keith’s soft unmoving lips. 

Then there was a bright flash of light and sounds exploded in his head as a rift was torn in the wall. 

He couldn’t make himself move as he saw the gaping mouth of a lion. He could only stare at it while he still stubbornly pressed down on Keith’s wound. Why couldn't they have come sooner? 

Shiro’s face came into his view. There was worry and fear written all over it. He looked to the side with a start before he pulled keith from under Lance’s hands and bolted to the lion. Lance could do nothing but watch as a galra forced itself into the room. His legs weren’t listening. He couldn’t move. 

A blast shot the Galra clean in the face before Lance was pulled off the ground by strong hands. The yellow armor usually such a comforting sight, did nothing to relieve him of the numbness that was taking over. 

All he wanted was for warm violet to fill up his entire gaze. 

  
  
  
  


~~~~Voltron~~~~ 

  
  
  


A week had passed since then. Lance’s disheveled form sat in the medical bay, staring up at the healing pod, a thin blanket around his shoulders. 

He refused to leave the room for longer than a bathroom break. Not even to eat. Hunk had taken to delivering meals to him, sitting beside him while they both ate. Sometimes the others joined. 

It was a painful sight. Keith so still, frozen in cryogenic sleep as the pod did what it could to mend his broken body. Lance sitting on the ground in front of it, bathed in the bluegreen light, making him look like a corpse. Dark shadows underneath his bloodshot eyes, his hair an absolute mess, something they had never thought possible with their beauty product obsessed friend.

The others entered the medical bay, gathering around Lance. Hunk helped him up in a standing position, while Coran made for the panel on the cryopod. 

Lance stared in anticipation as Coran tapped on the panel.

“His levels look good. It looks like he’ll be ready to come out in just a few ticks!” Coran sounded so positive but Lance couldn’t help but be unsure of his words.

Keith had looked dead when he was put in the pod. At least from Lance’s point of view. Though he had been in shock and wouldn’t have been a good judge of it anyway. 

Seeing the pod open up was scarier than sitting there day after day, watching Keith’s unmoving face. Now he would face reality. This was the moment he would know if his love was still with him or not. Despite Coran’s positive words he couldn’t help the fear. 

Lance took a step forward as the cryopod was completely open. A second passed where Keith was still as ever, before his eyes squinted and he tilted forth out of the machine. Lance’s heart jumped over a beat as he shot forwards to right his boyfriend before he fell to the floor. 

Lance’s heart was in his throat as he held Keith up by his shoulders. He could feel Keith’s body trembling with cold and fatigue. 

Keith was alive. He wasn't dead. He was alive!

Violet slits gazed at him and Lance couldn’t keep the tears in any longer. 

He hugged Keith close and let his tears soak into the cryo suit. Shaky arms wrapped around him and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Keith survived. 

“Yes,” Keith’s voice sounded by his ear and Lance lifted his head to look at Keith in confusion. 

“What?” Lance asked not understanding what Keith was saying. 

“Yes Lance,” Keith repeated. He looked Lance in the eyes with a very serious expression. It was so concentrated. So… Keith. Lance almost let out a chuckle but was interrupted my Keith’s words. “Yes, I want to marry you,” 

Lance choked, staring at Keith. A whistle, a catcall whistle of all things, sounded from behind him but he couldn’t make himself turn to find out who did it. He could only stand there with his mouth agape, trying to put two and two together. 

“You… you heard that?” was the only thing he could think of saying. 

“Yeah,” Keith’s face turned red and he looked down to his feet, nervously shuffling in place. 

“Oh my god,” Lance blurted. Then a huge grin spread across his face as he realized what had just happened. “OH MY GOD!” he called out and pulled Keith back into a tight hug. Laughter bubbled up from his throat, leaving his chest feeling so much lighter. Keith joined in, and soon they were all laughing merrily at the absurd way for the two of them to become fiances. It had to have happen in some sort of dramatic way, or it wouldn’t really be  _ them _ , would it. 

They would all need some time to recover from the stress and worries and not to mention the trauma. But with time they would be okay. With time, everything would be okay. 


End file.
